Singapore in a stranglehold

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Singapore in a stranglehold (Original title: The Singapore Grip ) is a novel by the British writer James Gordon Farrell from 1978. It is the third and last novel in Farrell's Empire trilogy, which is set against the background of the collapse of the British Empire . The novel is set in the late 1930s and early 1940s in what was then the British crown colony of Singapore during the Pacific War . The novel was only published in German in 2017.

action

In the late 1930s , Singapore is a British crown colony . The trading and brokerage company Blackett & Webb, which was founded by the British Webb in Rangoon in 1891 and mainly trades in rubber, is based in Singapore's noble, European suburb Tanglin . Webb, who is now around 80 years old, handed over management of the company to his business partner, the younger Walter Blackett, in 1930. The company also owns the small rubber plantation Mayfair Rubber Company. Walter is married to his wife Sylvia and has three children, including his single daughter Joan. Thousands of Chinese and Indians work in barren conditions in the factories in Singapore. In 1937, the British decision to develop Singapore into a trade and military hub began a deterioration in the economic situation of British companies, including Blackett & Webb, in Singapore. There are more and more strikes by dissatisfied workers. In addition, the Japanese want to expand their empire.

In September 1940, the long-widowed Webb suffered a stroke at a garden party . After months in hospital, he died in the second half of 1941. Webb's son Matthew, to whom his father's inheritance was due, arrived in Singapore that same year. During the approach to Singapore, Matthew receives unspecified advice from the pilot to be careful of the “Singapore stranglehold”. Walter fears that Matthew is not up to the task of running the company. In order to secure the future of the company and to control Matthew, Walter wants to marry Joan to Matthew. Although she doesn't love Matthew, she soon sets out to impress Matthew. She tries to do this on an evening when Matthew, Joan, her brother Monty and the American Jim Ehrendorf plunge into Singapore's nightlife together. Much to Monty's displeasure, Matthew brings his critical point of view now and on further, future occasions. the colonialism expressed. He believes that British rule is not doing the locals enough good. That evening in December 1941 was that of the first Japanese air raid on Singapore.

The Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula begins with the Japanese attack . The novel gives an overview of the military actions between Japan and the British and also tells of the British commanders Robert Brooke-Popham and Arthur Percival . At the same time, Matthew's experiences are told. Although he is seriously considering marrying Joan, he snubly rejects her in front of a gathering party. Then he falls in love with the European-Asian mixed-race girl Vera Chiang, who lives under relatively poor conditions and with whom he also has sexual intercourse. With her he visits a house where he died, where he learns from dying old people that Blackett & Webb is organizing the working conditions for rubber workers in such a way that they are economically disadvantaged.

From the second half of January 1942, the Japanese also bomb Tanglin and other parts of Singapore that had previously been spared from the bombardment. Matthew helps put out major fires caused by the bombing. During this and during other fire fighting operations in the following weeks, he once again experienced the poor conditions under which the Chinese workers live. His experiences there, which also include the practical work with a visible, tangible result, give him the feeling of a fulfilled life that he had never experienced before.

By the beginning of February 1942, thousands of people fled the Japanese to Singapore, so that the city's population doubled to around 1 million within a short time. At the time, the Japanese are on the verge of invading Singapore Island with ground troops. Meanwhile, the British colonists have begun to get to safety from the war. Many refugees crowd in the port to get one of the coveted seats on a ship with which they can leave the island. Meanwhile, the acts of war are getting closer and dead bodies are piled up in some streets of Singapore.

Matthew also wants to get Vera an exit permit, but she is not a priority for the authorities because of her race. A little later he receives approval with the help of an officer. The battle for Singapore raged in the first half of February 1942 . In the days just before it ends, Matthew searches for Vera in the increasingly war-torn city. He also meets Walter, who is devastated by the impending decline of his rubber business. By chance, Matthew meets Vera in a church while she is tending to the wounded. Matthew manages to get on board a ship with her and some British compatriots, which is waiting to leave Singapore. The escape fails because they are rejected by Australian soldiers who claim the ship for themselves.

When the Japanese occupation of Singapore was imminent, Matthews and Veras parted ways. Vera tries to go into hiding as a Chinese woman and thus to avoid being captured by the Japanese. Matthew and some compatriots were imprisoned in Japan for several years.

criticism

The German-language media received the novel largely positively when it was published. Deutschlandfunk editor Eberhard Falcke, for example, praised it as a “wonderfully” told and “highly intelligently composed swan song” to the era of British colonialism, when it was difficult “not to be tied up.” Dirk Kurbjuweit said in the Literatur-Spiegel, a supplement to the Spiegels said that from a literary point of view , Singapore was the best of the three Empire novels in a stranglehold , and went on to write: "This is great reading material, a book that impresses above all with its apocalyptic scenes, but with its opulence and diversity." that the protagonists Blackett and Matthew are less complex characters than the major in Troubles , the first part of the trilogy. The literary critic Rainer Moritz presented the novel on MDR Kultur as book of the week and praised it as a "story that is bursting with sensuality and cleverness and at the same time has nothing crude moralizing about it", and thus as a "special kind of feat".

interpretation

The novel makes it clear that the author uses it to criticize colonialism. He uses the character of Matthew, who makes it clear several times in the novel that from his point of view the Asian workforce is being treated unfairly. The author also draws the criticism with the figure of Walter, for whom the business spirit has the highest priority. This is one of the reasons why the editor Eberhard Falcke interprets him on Deutschlandfunk as the “perfect representative of colonial power and exploitation”.

Several meanings are ascribed to the eponymous stranglehold of Singapore in the novel. This includes above all the increasing encirclement of the city by the Japanese army, but also Ehrendorf's statement that the term refers to the ability of certain women in Singapore to use their vaginal muscles in a targeted manner.

expenditure

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Eberhard Falcke: Abgesang auf ein colonial world empire , in: Deutschlandfunk from May 28, 2017, accessed on July 15, 2017
  2. ↑ Dirk Kurbjuweit : Kolonialfrau sucht Kolonialherrn , in: Literatur-Spiegel No. 3, March 2017 (supplement in Der Spiegel ), accessed from Spiegel online on July 15, 2017
  3. ↑ Rainer Moritz : "As if you were holding warm, damp book pages in your hand" ( Memento of the original from June 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: MDR Kultur from May 23, 2017, accessed on July 15, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de